Document reading microscope



`March 27, 1945. E. G. FASEL DOCUMNT READING MICROSCOPE Filed May 20, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet l xNVENTOR 526m/ 6. P25554( March 27, 1945. E, Q FASSEL 2,372,192

DOCUMENT READING MICROSQP` Filed may 2o, 19 s sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

March 27, 1945. E. G. FAssEL DOCUMENT READING MICROSQOPE Filed `uay 2o, 1942 documents` while the gardless of its Patented Mar. 27, 1945 DOCUMENT READING MICROSCOPE Elgin G. Fassel, Milwaukee, Wis. Application May 20, 1942, Serial No. 443,735

(Cl. 88-39) l 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in document reading microscopes, with particular reference to the rfa-examination. of miniature photographic reproductions of documents after the originals have been lost or destroyed.

In my Patent No. 2,177,135, dated October 24, 1939, I have disclosed means for obtaining, upon sensitized strips or lms, miniature paired photographsof both sides of each document in groups which have been selected for examination or destruction, whereby such photograph carrying strips or lms may be spirally wound and stored. Millions of such pictures `may be stored in a small cabinet, either temporarily or permanently.

Documents of various kinds often have written or printed matter on both sides, and in some cases inverted or extended across the ends at right angles to other notations, and slome rotations may also appear in oblique positions.

It is desirable that the document, or any record thereof, be held in a fixed 4position when examined under a microscope, and the primary object of my invention is to provide means to facilitate the microscopic examination of documents or records which have been serially mounted upon a carrier strip, by shifting the images of such latter are in a stationary position.

More particularly,

tively adjusting images and presenting to the the observer, upright images of each feature of the object to be examined, re-

to the other features of the photograph or other object, whereby the image of each feature may be separately studied in its most favorable position while the object itself and the entire carrier, orlm, remains in a fixed position.

Another object is to provide means for advancing and retracting the carrier strips or films to permit repeated examination and comparison of the various documents ,in a, series.

A further object is to provide means for centering carrier strips of differing widths for observation through a microscope and advancing or retracting such carrier strips, whereby multiple series of photographs or other objects on carrier y be successively ex- Vamined microscopically and compared with each strips of differing Widths may other.

In the drawings: Figure l is a front elevation of a binocular microscope of the duplex type commercially miniature records thereof, including it is my object to provide an ordinary microscope with means for rotarelative position with reference known as the Greenough type, and showing my invention combined therewith in association with suitable strip feeding means, whereby a carrier strip containing Aphotographs or objects to be examined may be advanced and retracted across the line of sight underneath the object glass of the microscope.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of one of the roll supporting devices for the carrier strip, drawn to line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view of the carrier feedway, drawn to a plane intersecting the axis of the carrier strip.

Figure 4 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, drawn toline 4 4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a diagrammaticfview, showing, in vertical section, the carrier strip, a set of image shifting mirrors and the objective lens of the microscope, and indicating the paths taken by the rays of light in passing from the film to said object glass.

Figure 6 is a front elevation, partly in vertical section, of a microscope of the mon-objective, binocular type to which my invention has been applied.

1Figure 'l is a side elevation of the microscope shown in Figure 5, also showing the image shifting attachment in vertical section.

Figure 8 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing an embodiment of my invention in an ordinary monocular microscope.

Figure 9 shows a vertical section of the image shifting device in a modified form, adapted to be applied to the eye piece of an ordinary monocular microscope. a fragment of such eye piece being illustrated in full.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

Binocular microscopes are vertically adjustable with reference to the object to be viewed, and in ordinary low power binocular microscopes there is approximately a three inch space between the object glass and the mounting for the object. In the construction illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, the barrel or body I0 of the microscope is supported by a bracket Il from a slide l2 mounted for vertical adjustment along a post I3 connected -with the mounting member Il.

`When the focal .range has been determined, the

slide is locked to the post by means of a set screw indicated at l5 in Figure 4.

To facilitate inspection of the photographs by an observer seated on a chair or stool, a microscope of any suitable type may be preferably supported in an inclined position, such as that occupied by the binocular microscope illustrated in Figure l. In the construction illustrated, the microscope is supported from a table top 20 by a, frame 2| having an inclined upper margin provided with an adjustable centering slide 22, apertured at 23 and movable along a suitable slideway on the inclined upper margin of the frame 2| by -means of an adjusting screw 25. A dependent housing 28 supports a lamp 29, preferably provided with a parabolic reflector and located underneath the aperture 23, and abovethe apertured portion of the slide 22 I provide a correspondingly apertured mounting plate 30 which at one end supports the mounting member I4 and at the other end supports a glass plate 3|, anchored to the plate 30 on three sides by clips 32 and over which the photograph carrier or illm A may pass. to the mounting member |4 by metal anchoring clips 32. 'I'he two glass plates 3| and 33 are spaced from each other in a recess formed in the mounting member |4 and provide a transparent feedway, which is open at the front and sides to allow the film A to be manipulated transversely into the feedway as hereinafter explained. Light may pass from the lamp 29 through the aperture '23, aperture 34 in mounting plate 38, and through the glass plates, thus illuminating the illm A from .the under side.

The portion of the mounting member I4 which overhangs the transparent feedway is correspondingly apertured and the margin of its aperture is undercut to receive an annulus 31, secured by suitable screws 38 to a depending cylindrical portion of a rotatable housing 39 within which image reversing mirrors 4|), 4| and 42 are supported.

Rays of light from the lamp may thus pass through the lm to the cbliquely inclined mirror 40, to be reflected thereby to the vertical mirror 4|, back in reversed position to the oppositely inclined mirror 42, and thence to the object glass 45 of the microscope to render visible through the microscope an inverted image of the object carned by the nlm. 'I'he microscope will of course be adjusted on the post I3 to shorten the actual distance between the object glass 45 and the film A, in correspondence with the increased length of the light ray paths, thus keeping the object glass within proper focal range from the film. The inclined mirrors are preferably placed, each at an angle of 30 degrees from the plane of the vertical mirror.

The transparent walls of the feedway formed by the glass plates 3| and 33, and the registering apertures in the slide 22 and the mounting members 30 and |3, are of suilicient dimensions to expose lms of maximum width to the microscope. When shifting from a film of a certain width to one of different width, the slide 22 will be adjusted to bring the center of the object glass to a line perpendicular to the center line of the lm.

The carrier strips A are customarily stored in the form of spirally wound coreless rolls. To facilitate inspection of such strips or lms, I provide holders 49 and 58, on opposite sides of the microscope, whereby the roll to be inspected may be mounted in one of the holders and fed through the transparent feedway of the microscope to the other holder, within which it may be rewound.

Each holder 49, 58, is preferably of a generally cup-shaped form, as best shown in Figure 2, the upright portion being hereinafter referred to as the bottom, and the peripheral portion being referrea to as the side wall. The side walls of the A superposed glass plate 33 is securedrespective holders are cut away to provide openings through which the carrier strip may pass. Each holder has an arm 5| pivotally connected with a bracket 52 by a pivot pin 53. The bracket 52 is carried by a slide 54 adjustably mounted in a slideway on a base plate 51. A length of resilient wire 55 is coiled about the pivot pin 53, with one end bearing on the slide and the other against the arm 5|, the arrangement being such that the arm 5| is urged toward the upright position in which it is illustrated in Figure 2.

The bottom wall of the roll outfeeding holder 50 may be centrally -provided with a pin 58 to loosely receiver and support the roll of lm or carrying strip A, with one margin of the strip bearing against the bottom wall of the holder and the other margin bearing against a friction pad 6|) carried by a rotatable disk 6 The disk 6I is mounted on a shaft 62` which has bearings in a gear housing 63. The shaft S8 may be manually rotated in either direction by a crank 65, crank shaft 66, gear wheel 61, and the pinion 68 on shaft 62. The holder 49 has a core 10 provided with a kerf 1| in which the end of the film may be inserted, whereby when the disk (il is rotated, the carrier strip may be drawn from the holder 50 and wound upon the core 10.

The holders 49 and 50 may each be swung downwardly on the pivot pin 53 to facilitate the insertion or removal of carrier rolls A. The side walls of the holders are cut away, as shown in Figure 1, to allow the end of the carrier strip to be extended through the feedway of the micro scope to the receiving core 10. The intermedi.

ate portion of the carrier strip may be manipulated between the glass plates 3| and 32, and the holders properly positioned with reference to the width of the lm by-adjusting their supporting slides 54.

Microscopes of the binocular mon-objective type ordinarily have their prism housing 88 fixed to a vertically adjustable slide 8|, which may be secured to the housing by set screws having operating handles 82. Also, in the construction illustrated, the slide 8| is vertically adjustable on an upwardly projecting arm 83 of a horizontally adjustable slide 84, movable along a xed support 85. After adjustment, these parts are secured by thumb screws 86 and 81.

All of the parts, to 81 inclusive, as well as the unlettered parts of the microscope and the prism system enclosed within the housing 80, may be assumed to be of ordinary construction. Therefore detailed illustration and description are deemed unnecessary.

For the purposes of my invention, I provide the slide 8| with a bracket 90 which carries a ring 9|. This ring supports a hanger sleeve 92, having a ange 93 bearing upon the top of the ring, to which is clamped by a collar 94 threaded to the lower end of the sleeve andprovlded with a depending threaded portion 95 which is screwed to the upper end of a housing 96 containing image reversing mirrors 48a, 4|a and 42a. The housingh has bottom and top apertures in the line of sig i It will be understood that the fixed support may, if desired, be connected with a slide such as the slide 22 shown in Figure 4. In any event, it may be associated with carrier holders, a transparent feedway, a suitable mounting, and illuminating means similar to the corresponding Darts shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive. It will also be understood that, if desired, the supporting means shown in Figure 4 may be substituted for that shown in Figures 6 and 7.

In microscopes of the mon-objective type there is but one object g1ass,'and the mirrors of the optical image adjusting system may be correspondingly reduced in size.

In Figure 8 I have illustrated an ordinary monocular microscope having its barrel extended and provided with a built-in housing sleeve IOI containing image reversing mirrors 40h, Mb and 4217. The sleeve A10| and its associated mirrors are interposed between the object glass and the eye piece |06, and. the mechanical tube length is reduced to maintain the established optical tube length. The sleeve |0| may be oscillated by a handle |01 which extends through an arcuate slot |08 in the barrel |00.

In the modication shown in Figure 9, a mirror enclosing housing ||0 ofa generally cylindrical form, has an eye piece |060 at its upper end, and is socketed at ||l to fit the eye piece |06 of a microscope such as is shown in Figure 8. Similar image shifting eifects are obtained by rotating the housing ||0.

In each structure illustrated in the drawings, a 45 degree rotation or oscillation of the mirror carrying housing will effect a 90 degree shift in the position of the image, and a 90 degree oscillation will effect a 180 degree shift or a complete inversion of the position of the image. Rotation through intermediate angles will effect a corresponding apparent shift of position of the image with respect to the actual position of the object. Therefore, matter written or printed across the end of a document may be made to appear to the eye in an upright position by a 45 degree oscillation of the housing, and inverted matter on the document may be made to appear to the eye in an upright position by a -90 degree oscillation of the housing.

No matter what the angle at which a notation appears to the object, its image may be presented in any desired position for study. I preferably employ "first surfaced mirrors, in which reflection occurs directly from the first surface encountered by the light, without penetration, the aluminized type being durable and very satisfactory. As is well known in the art, suitable prisms may be substituted for the mirrors, although mirrors -of the above mentioned type, with the oblique mirrors each set at an angle of 30 degrees from a vertical plane, are preferred. lIt is obviously immaterial whether the feedway walls are transparent, or otherwise adapted to expose cbjects to view through the microscope under proper conditions of illumination.

base beneath said first opening f of said casing concentric with said axis,

I claim:

1. In a microscope for reading strips carrying miniature photographs, a base. a rigid upright standard carried by said base, a microscope adjustably carried on said standard, an opening formed in said base in alignment with the axis of the objective of said microscope, a guideway for said strips formed in said base beneath said opening and crossing said axis, said guideway including transparent plates between which said strips may pass, a second opening formed in said and said guidemeans beneath said second opening, a casing between said microscope and said base and having its lower end swiveled on and adapted to be manually rotated on said base, aligned openings formed in the top and bottom of said casing concentric with said axis, and a set of reflecting surfaces mounted in and movable with said casing, said set comprising a pair of oppositely inclined surfaces angularly disposed equally with respect to and cut by said axis, and a surface spaced apart from and parallel to said axis and adapted to transfer images of said photograph from one surface of said pair to the other, whereby an operator may rotate said casing on its swivel to rotate the image of the photograph being viewed about said axis.

2. In a microscope for reading strips carrying miniature photographs, a base, a rigid upright standard carried by said base, a microscope adjustably carried on said standard, an opening formed in said base in alignment with the axis of the objective of said microscope, a guideway for said strips formed in said base beneath said way, illuminating -opening and crossing said axis, said guideway including transparent plates between which said strips may pass, a second opening formed in said base beneath said first opening and said guideway, illuminating means beneath said second opening, a casing between said microscope and said base and having its lower end swiveleo on and adapted to be manually rotated on said base, aligned openings formed in the top and bottr;

set of first surface mirrors mounted in and movable with said casing, said set comprising a pair of oppositely inclined mirrors angularly disposed with respect to and cut by said axis, and a third mirror spaced apart from said pair of mirrors and parallel to said axis for transferring images from one mirror of said pair to the other, whereby an operator may manually rotate said casing on its swivel to rotate the image of a photograph being viewed about said axis.

ELGIN G. FASSEL. 

